"Picture Perfect"

[Garnoopy 0]

Lieutenant Garnoopy

Personal Log Stardate 50305.07

“Picture Perfect”

Log Series Part I

 

The room’s lighting was dim, the mood saddened, the room thick with emotion. Outside the window, thousands of stars shown, but none of them could seem to pierce the sadness which cloaked the room.

 

Garnoopy sat on the edge of his bed, his body slumped, the look of emotional drain etched onto his face. No smile could be seen anywhere, no hint of happiness was on his normally jovial body.

 

His face looked downward into his lap, where his hands rested. They lightly held a silver photo frame, which Garnoopy stared into, studying the picture within.

 

The picture was old, but still in good condition. The scene was a lovely one. The sun shone, the green grass shown in the light. The blue sky made you think of the perfect day. In the background, grazing on the grass could be seen several farm animals, moving around the flat open plain.

 

A tree stood in the open field, tall and proud to be the only one which grew on the green grazing land. The leaves spread outwards, collecting all the sunlight they could, almost seeming to reach for the sky, to attempt to grow, to become more than they were.

 

On a low branch, two children hung, upside down. Their legs wrapped around the limb, their hands hanging in midair. Their smiles were upside down, but their faces shown with happiness and delight. They had discovered the tree and the ability to hang upside down only a short while ago, and took continual delight at just hanging there, laughing at the world which seemed so different and silly from the upside down point of view.

 

Despite hanging a meter above the ground, and despite many falls, they never did injure themselves, and they always came back to the tree, to hang, and enjoy life to its fullest.

 

The picture never changed, and Garnoopy stared into it, absorbing every detail. A single tear slid  down his cheek, a line of wetness left. It slid off his face, and landed on the clear glass of the frame. Garnoopy bit his lip, and closed his eyes, trying to wrap a hand around his emotions, and prevent the landslide of feelings which were plaguing him.

 

A rush of anger escaped his grasp, the anger towards everything, towards every single thing that could have been prevented, that could have changed the outcome, and the anger exploded out of him.

 

In the blink of an eye, the frame with the picture was hurled across the room, Garnoopy on his feet, the fury exploding off every muscle in him.

 

There was a thud, the frame hit the wall, and bent. The glass inside shattered, falling to the floor next to the silver frame with clinks. Like a feather trying to prove how it was different from the heavy frame and glass, the photo floated downwards, and landed lightly on the floor, face up, showing the two children to Garnoopy’s angry eyes.

 

A sigh of breath escaped his lips, the fury immediately dissipated, and he collapsed onto his bed, his body emotionally drained, his brain not wanting to function, not wanting to process the emotions he was now burdened with, and he drifted into a restless sleep, in which only nightmares would prevail.